Quotes from Gloria Estefan

It's a universal story, it's an immigrant story, and it's a love story. In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.

Having felt people's love and support first hand through difficult moments in my life makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another.

I love Gershwin. I love musicals.

A lot of the way I sing is playing off other musicians. It's what I love to do the most.

Love is a constant source of inspiration, surprise, and wonderment.

I'm a writer and this is what I love to do.

My inspirations include the Beatles - love, love, love them - Elton John, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.

When you sing in English and Spanish, it's two completely different forms of expression and... even the people who don't speak Spanish love to hear me sing in Spanish.

The reason I'm not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came to America, joined the Army, fought in Vietnam - and was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow, horrible death. Music was my escape.

Everything that an artist does is a risk. Some people want you to stay the same. If you want to evolve, they want to keep you in a certain place.

Touring is hard. It's really hard on the singer, especially, because your body is your instrument and you have to be so good, it's like boot camp out there; I can't do anything - just sleep, sing and be very healthy.

There are so many beautiful things that are a part of the world, and I've always looked at life that way; I've always tried to put on a smile and a brave front, not just for my kids but in my own life and all the difficulties that I've gone through.

People tend to forget that celebrities are human beings. We live our lives. We try to do what we love, which is music. And to share it with everyone in our job usually is to entertain and to make people forget their troubles.

As an artist, you dream about accumulating enough successful music to someday do just one greatest-hits album, but to reach the point where you're releasing your second collection of hits is beyond belief.

I spent 15 years on the road between touring and recording and I never saw anything. I want to enjoy life.

My daughter is almost a young lady. She's going to be 10 years old in December and I want to be there day-in and day-out.

My mother had a beautiful, soothing voice that made me melt.

The sad truth is that opportunity doesn't knock twice. You can put things off until tomorrow but tomorrow may never come. Where will you be a few years down the line? Will it be everything you dreamed of? We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.

Apparently Pope John Paul II and his boys - is that what you call them? - loved one of my songs and thought I was putting spiritual messages in my music. I'm not religious as such. Dogma and I don't get along.

The secret of a long marriage is shaving your legs every day . . . because it shows you still care.

There is nothing better than humor to keep a marriage going.

I wanted very badly to be a mum. I'm a very maternal person. But at the point that I met Emilio I was focusing on a career. I never would have thought that I would get married at 21 and much less be a mum by 23.

My mum had a very strong moral code, which I kind of came with. I never really had to be told what was right or wrong - I knew. I was very mature from early on and I was a very good girl, so she never had any trouble with me.

I'm careful what I put out there into the universe, musically. I don't take it lightly.